Unheeded red flags

Feb. 13, 2010

Last Sunday's Courier-Journal report about a Louisville police detective with a pattern of false accusations and missed court dates was a shocking portrayal of unprofessional conduct. But just as horrifying was the failure of police commanders to grasp just how alarming the track record of Detective Crystal Marlowe was and to get her off the street and out of the courtroom.

How many red flags should Ms. Marlowe's work have raised? Let us count the ways.

In a review of 130 felony cases in which Ms. Marlowe made arrests in 2008 and 2009, reporters R.G. Dunlop and Jason Riley found that 40 percent eventually were dismissed, often on prosecutors' motions. At least 10 of those cases were thrown out because she missed court appearances. All told, she failed to appear in court for felony cases more than 50 times during that two-year period.

She pursued charges against people who were in jail or appeared to have rock-solid alibis at the time crimes were committed, and she charged people based on identifications that witnesses later said they never made.

On at least five occasions, grand juries took the unusual step of refusing to return indictments in cases in which Ms. Marlowe had been the sole testifying witness.

To their credit, some court officials did spot warning signs.

Several assistant commonwealth's attorneys moved for dismissal of cases because they thought evidence was weak or suspect. Jefferson Circuit Judge McKay Chauvin termed Ms. Marlowe's conduct “totally unacceptable,” and took the unusual step early last year of calling her division commander to ask why his officer was ignoring court directives.

“It's not a wake-up call, it's a fire alarm,” Samuel Walker, professor emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, said of the judge's action. “It should have galvanized police to investigate.”

It didn't, even though Ms. Marlowe's conduct also violated Metro Police Chief Robert White's warning that unexcused failures to attend court are serious violations. Indeed, police didn't open an internal investigation until Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Richwalsky took his concerns to police last September.

Police officials, meanwhile, are setting a leisurely pace. Their inquiry remains unfinished, and even after last Sunday's stories, Crystal Marlowe is on the job. One wonders what it would take to create a sense of urgency.